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The orca (Orcinus orca), or killer whale, is a toothed whale and the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. It is the only extant species in the genus Orcinus and is recognizable by its black-and-white patterned body. A cosmopolitan species, it inhabits a wide range of marine environments, from Arctic to Antarctic regions to tropical seas.
There are anecdotal reports that, c. 1955, an Inuk man fell prey to an orca entrapped by ice in Grand Suttie Bay (Foxe Basin, Canada).A pod of orcas (likely 10-12 animals) was trapped in a polynya, and a young man visited the site in spite of advice from elders to wait until the ice was strong enough.
Initially named Walter the Whale, [144] [145] this orca was taken into captivity during the Yukon Harbor orca capture operation, which was the first planned, deliberate trapping of a large group of orcas (killer whales). 15 southern resident orcas were trapped by Ted Griffin and his Seattle Public Aquarium party on 15 February 1967, in Yukon ...
Orkid at SeaWorld San Diego. Dozens of orcas (killer whales) are held in captivity for breeding or performance purposes. The practice of capturing and displaying orcas in exhibitions began in the 1960s, and they soon became popular attractions at public aquariums and aquatic theme parks due to their intelligence, trainability, striking appearance, playfulness, and sheer size.
The IUCN reported in 2008, "The taxonomy of this genus is clearly in need of review, and it is likely that O. orca will be split into a number of different species or at least subspecies over the next few years." [3] However, large variation in the ecological distinctiveness of different orca groups complicate simple differentiation into types. [4]
The genus Orcinus was published by Leopold Fitzinger in 1860, [4] its type species is the orca named by Linnaeus in 1758 as Delphinus orca.Taxonomic arrangements of delphinids published by workers before and after Fitzinger, such as John Edward Gray as Orca in 1846 and Orca (Gladiator) in 1870, are recognized as synonyms of Orcinus.
Shamu / ʃ æ m uː / (c. 1961 [1] – August 16, 1971) was a female orca captured in October 1965 from a southern resident pod. She was sold to SeaWorld San Diego and became a star attraction. Shamu was the fourth orca ever captured, and the second female. [2] She died in August 1971, after about six years of captivity. [3]
The rate of orca-boat interactions and their dispersal prompted the formation in August 2020 of a working group for the issue, the Atlantic Orca Working Group (Grupo de Trabajo Orca Atlántica; GTOA). [1] A Facebook group, Orca Attack Reports, was created to facilitate the sharing of information about the interactions. [24]